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The number e is a mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.71828 that is the base of the natural logarithm and exponential function.It is sometimes called Euler's number, after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, though this can invite confusion with Euler numbers, or with Euler's constant, a different constant typically denoted .
Euler's identity is a special case of Euler's formula, which states that for any real number x, e i x = cos x + i sin x {\displaystyle e^{ix}=\cos x+i\sin x} where the inputs of the trigonometric functions sine and cosine are given in radians .
Euler's formula is ubiquitous in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering. The physicist Richard Feynman called the equation "our jewel" and "the most remarkable formula in mathematics". [2] When x = π, Euler's formula may be rewritten as e iπ + 1 = 0 or e iπ = −1, which is known as Euler's identity.
His proofs are similar to Fourier's proof of the irrationality of e. In 1891, Hurwitz explained how it is possible to prove along the same line of ideas that e is not a root of a third-degree polynomial with rational coefficients, which implies that e 3 is irrational. [12] More generally, e q is irrational for any non-zero rational q. [13]
[46] [47] If e γ is a rational number, then its denominator must be greater than 10 15000. [3] Euler's constant is conjectured not to be an algebraic period, [3] but the values of its first 10 9 decimal digits seem to indicate that it could be a normal number. [48]
Since e is an irrational number (see proof that e is irrational), it cannot be represented as the quotient of two integers, but it can be represented as a continued fraction. Using calculus, e may also be represented as an infinite series, infinite product, or other types of limit of a sequence.
Euler's number e corresponds to shaded area equal to 1, introduced in chapter VII. Introductio in analysin infinitorum (Latin: [1] Introduction to the Analysis of the Infinite) is a two-volume work by Leonhard Euler which lays the foundations of mathematical analysis.
He first proved that e a is transcendental if a is a non-zero algebraic number. Then, since e iπ = −1 is algebraic (see Euler's identity), iπ must be transcendental. But since i is algebraic, π must therefore be transcendental.